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ICU TopicsNeurocritical Care

ICU · Neurocritical Care

Raised ICP and traumatic brain injury management

Also known as Raised intracranial pressure (ICP) · Traumatic brain injury (TBI) · Intracranial hypertension · Cerebral perfusion pressure (CPP) · Decompressive craniectomy · Seattle ICP algorithm

Raised ICP and severe TBI: the Seattle (SIBICC) tiered algorithm, BEST:TRIP and CREVICE, hyperosmolar therapy, DECRA versus RESCUEicp, barbiturates, multimodality monitoring, prognostication, and the therapies that harm — steroids, hypothermia, hyperventilation, albumin.

high30 referencesUpdated 13 Oct 20265 min readSource-verified · Oct 2026

Checked against its sources on 13 Oct 2026

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CICMFFICMEDIC

Red flags

  • ICP above 22 mmHg warrants treatment — untreated intracranial hypertension causes secondary brain injury and death
  • CPP must be maintained at 60-70 mmHg — too low causes ischaemia, too high risks ARDS and fluid overload
  • Avoid hypotension and hypoxia (PaO2 <60) — secondary brain insults double mortality in severe TBI
  • RESCUEicp: decompressive craniectomy reduces mortality but increases rates of vegetative state and severe disability
  • POLAR trial: prophylactic hypothermia does NOT improve outcomes in severe TBI
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Practise this topic8 MCQs with explanations

Target exams

CICMFFICMEDIC

Red flags

  • ICP above 22 mmHg warrants treatment — untreated intracranial hypertension causes secondary brain injury and death
  • CPP must be maintained at 60-70 mmHg — too low causes ischaemia, too high risks ARDS and fluid overload
  • Avoid hypotension and hypoxia (PaO2 <60) — secondary brain insults double mortality in severe TBI
  • RESCUEicp: decompressive craniectomy reduces mortality but increases rates of vegetative state and severe disability
  • POLAR trial: prophylactic hypothermia does NOT improve outcomes in severe TBI
[1]

A young man with severe diffuse TBI has a high ICP and a low-normal MAP, giving a CPP well below target — and the Seattle algorithm (SIBICC) says what to do next, in tiers.[1]

What the sources support
  1. The Seattle (SIBICC) algorithm puts 18 interventions as fundamental and ten as not to be used, in a three-tier ladder where treatments within a tier are empirically equivalent.[1]
  2. Early craniectomy (DECRA) worsened functional outcome; late craniectomy (RESCUEicp) cut mortality but raised vegetative state and severe disability.[13][3]
  3. Prophylactic hyperventilation is deleterious in head-injured patients with motor scores of 4-5.[22]
  4. Barbiturates do not improve outcome and cause hypotension in one of every four patients.[19]
  5. Corticosteroids kill in TBI — CRASH: death within 2 weeks RR 1.18.[16]

Monitoring — who gets what

ICP monitoring is associated with mortality when ICP rises; management guidelines recommend keeping physiological ICP to prevent herniation and inadequate cerebral blood flow.[20] The EVD both measures and drains; ventriculostomy-related infection and haemorrhage are the recognised complications.[24]

Optic nerve sheath diameter on ultrasound is a strong contender among bedside non-invasive modalities, estimating ICP from optic nerve distension . A scoping review compares its use against gold-standard invasive methods rather than replacing them.[9]

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References30ShowHide
  1. [1]Hawryluk GWJ, Aguilera S, Buki A, et al. A management algorithm for patients with intracranial pressure monitoring: the Seattle International Severe Traumatic Brain Injury Consensus Conference (SIBICC). Intensive care medicine, 2019.PMID 31659383
  2. [2]Hawryluk GWJ, Rubiano AM, Totten AM, et al. Guidelines for the Management of Severe Traumatic Brain Injury: 2020 Update of the Decompressive Craniectomy Recommendations. Neurosurgery, 2020.PMID 32761068
  3. [3]Hutchinson PJ, Kolias AG, Timofeev IS, et al. Trial of Decompressive Craniectomy for Traumatic Intracranial Hypertension. The New England journal of medicine, 2016.PMID 27602507
  4. [4]Cooper DJ, Nichol AD, Bailey M, et al. Effect of Early Sustained Prophylactic Hypothermia on Neurologic Outcomes Among Patients With Severe Traumatic Brain Injury: The POLAR Randomized Clinical Trial. JAMA, 2018.PMID 30357266
  5. [5]Chesnut RM, Temkin N, Videtta W, et al. Consensus-Based Management Protocol (CREVICE Protocol) for the Treatment of Severe Traumatic Brain Injury Based on Imaging and Clinical Examination for Use When Intracranial Pressure Monitoring Is Not Employed. Journal of neurotrauma, 2020.PMID 32013721
  6. [6]Schizodimos T, Soulountsi V, Iasonidou C, et al. An overview of management of intracranial hypertension in the intensive care unit. Journal of anesthesia, 2020.PMID 32440802
  7. [7]Dietvorst S, Depreitere B, Meyfroidt G Beyond intracranial pressure: monitoring cerebral perfusion and autoregulation in severe traumatic brain injury. Current opinion in critical care, 2023.PMID 36762674
  8. [8]Kochanek PM, Adelson PD, Rosario BL, et al. Comparison of Intracranial Pressure Measurements Before and After Hypertonic Saline or Mannitol Treatment in Children With Severe Traumatic Brain Injury. JAMA network open, 2022.PMID 35267036
  9. [9]Martínez-Palacios K, Vásquez-García S, Fariyike OA, et al. Using Optic Nerve Sheath Diameter for Intracranial Pressure (ICP) Monitoring in Traumatic Brain Injury: A Scoping Review. Neurocritical care, 2024.PMID 38114797
  10. [10]Liu M, Wang AJ, Chen Y, et al. Efficacy and safety of erythropoietin for traumatic brain injury. BMC neurology, 2020.PMID 33138778
  11. [11]Michael R, Gaddy M, Antonino N, et al. Hypertonic Saline for Severe Traumatic Brain Injury With Herniation: A Military Prehospital Case Report. Journal of special operations medicine : a peer reviewed journal for SOF medical professionals, 2022.PMID 35862837
  12. [12]Chesnut RM, Temkin N, Carney N, et al. A trial of intracranial-pressure monitoring in traumatic brain injury. The New England journal of medicine, 2012.PMID 23234472
  13. [13]Cooper DJ, Rosenfeld JV, Murray L, et al. Decompressive craniectomy in diffuse traumatic brain injury. The New England journal of medicine, 2011.PMID 21434843
  14. [14]Carney N, Totten AM, O'Reilly C, et al. Guidelines for the Management of Severe Traumatic Brain Injury, Fourth Edition. Neurosurgery, 2017.PMID 27654000
  15. [15]SAFE Study Investigators, Australian and New Zealand Intensive Care Society Clinical Trials Group, Australian Red Cross Blood Service, et al. Saline or albumin for fluid resuscitation in patients with traumatic brain injury. The New England journal of medicine, 2007.PMID 17761591
  16. [16]Roberts I, Yates D, Sandercock P, et al. Effect of intravenous corticosteroids on death within 14 days in 10008 adults with clinically significant head injury (MRC CRASH trial): randomised placebo-controlled trial. Lancet (London, England), 2004.PMID 15474134
  17. [17]Le Roux P, Menon DK, Citerio G, et al. Consensus summary statement of the International Multidisciplinary Consensus Conference on Multimodality Monitoring in Neurocritical Care : a statement for healthcare professionals from the Neurocritical Care Society and the European Society of Intensive Care Medicine. Intensive care medicine, 2014.PMID 25138226
  18. [18]van Veen E, van der Jagt M, Citerio G, et al. Occurrence and timing of withdrawal of life-sustaining measures in traumatic brain injury patients: a CENTER-TBI study. Intensive care medicine, 2021.PMID 34351445
  19. [19]Roberts I, Sydenham E Barbiturates for acute traumatic brain injury. The Cochrane database of systematic reviews, 2012.PMID 23235573
  20. [20]Stein KY, Froese L, Gomez A, et al. Intracranial Pressure Monitoring and Treatment Thresholds in Acute Neural Injury: A Narrative Review of the Historical Achievements, Current State, and Future Perspectives. Neurotrauma reports, 2023.PMID 37636334
  21. [21]Okonkwo DO, Shutter LA, Moore C, et al. Brain Oxygen Optimization in Severe Traumatic Brain Injury Phase-II: A Phase II Randomized Trial. Critical care medicine, 2017.PMID 29028696
  22. [22]Muizelaar JP, Marmarou A, Ward JD, et al. Adverse effects of prolonged hyperventilation in patients with severe head injury: a randomized clinical trial. Journal of neurosurgery, 1991.PMID 1919695
  23. [23]Chesnut RM Secondary brain insults after head injury: clinical perspectives. New horizons (Baltimore, Md.), 1995.PMID 7496744
  24. [24]Chadwick S, Donaldson L, Janin P, et al. The association between ventriculostomy - Related infection and clinical outcomes: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Journal of clinical neuroscience : official journal of the Neurosurgical Society of Australasia, 2023.PMID 36827759
  25. [25]Maguigan KL, Dennis BM, Hamblin SE, et al. Method of Hypertonic Saline Administration: Effects on Osmolality in Traumatic Brain Injury Patients. Journal of clinical neuroscience : official journal of the Neurosurgical Society of Australasia, 2017.PMID 28215427
  26. [26]Martinez-Tejada I, Arum A, Wilhjelm JE, et al. B waves: a systematic review of terminology, characteristics, and analysis methods. Fluids and barriers of the CNS, 2019.PMID 31610775
  27. [27]Temkin NR Antiepileptogenesis and seizure prevention trials with antiepileptic drugs: meta-analysis of controlled trials. Epilepsia, 2001.PMID 11440347
  28. [28]Andrews PJ, Sinclair HL, Rodriguez A, et al. Hypothermia for Intracranial Hypertension after Traumatic Brain Injury. The New England journal of medicine, 2015.PMID 26444221
  29. [29]Skolnick BE, Maas AI, Narayan RK, et al. A clinical trial of progesterone for severe traumatic brain injury. The New England journal of medicine, 2014.PMID 25493978
  30. [30]Wright DW, Yeatts SD, Silbergleit R, et al. Very early administration of progesterone for acute traumatic brain injury. The New England journal of medicine, 2014.PMID 25493974

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